


Just because

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [43]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Brothers, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, M/M, Presents, Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:27:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Oliver wants to buy Ollie a gift, just because.
Relationships: Oliver & Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 11
Kudos: 14





	Just because

“No offense, Elio,” Oliver began. This was met, of course, with a world class eye roll and an elaborate groan. Oliver just ignored the dramatics and continued speaking. “But, for one of the best big brothers I’ve ever met, seriously, the superhero of big brothers, you can be so utterly…” Oliver paused, searching for the right word. Unable to locate it, he settled for, “ungenerous.” He thought it was close enough to get his meaning across.

Elio’s eyes narrowed. His eyebrows came together in an angry scowl that looked all too familiar to Oliver. He had to take a conspicuous sip of too-hot coffee to keep from laughing. The scowls and glowers that Oliver used to find irritating were now somewhat endearing because he saw Ollie in them.

“ _Ungenerous_?” Elio seethed. “Are you kidding me?” 

Mark Twain once said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word was like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug, and at this moment Oliver regretted settling for the lightning bug of words. “Not exactly ungenerous,” Oliver tried to walk it back. 

“Exactly _what_ , then?” Elio asked, still clearly bristled. 

Oliver sighed. “I don’t know, Elio. I just don’t understand why it has to be his birthday in order to give him a gift,” Oliver tried. This had been an area of disagreement between the two in the past, and neither of them showed any shift in their thinking. 

“He has a room full of toys, games, art supplies, puzzles, books. When I was his age, I had only books and books!” Elio hotly contested. 

“Did you walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways?” Oliver asked. He was only teasing, but Elio was in no frame of mind to be teased. 

“Forget it,” Elio spluttered. He was wearing the most adorable pout though. Oliver couldn’t resist walking over to hug him. Elio, being fully annoyed, wasn’t particularly receptive to the hug initially, but as always with Oliver’s touch, he couldn’t resist the affection once offered. 

“I’m sorry, Elio,” Oliver said. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” 

Elio nodded, his way of accepting an apology when he felt he’d done nothing wrong and had no intention of offering a quid pro quo apology of his own. “I’m not ungenerous though,” Elio qualified. 

“I know, Elio. It was the wrong word. You’re one of the most selfless people I know. I just don’t think it will ruin the kid if we buy him a toy now and then,” Oliver said. 

Elio and Oliver had been arguing on and off for a while now. The weekend that Danny excluded Ollie from his party, Oliver had wanted to take Ollie to the toy store to choose a toy. Elio thought that purchasing material items to compensate for emotional upset was an unhealthy coping mechanism. “Maybe we should just feed him some cupcakes and ice cream to help him deal with his emotions?” Elio had said sarcastically the first time they’d argued about it. 

Oliver knew he should probably surrender. Ollie did have plenty of toys, most of which he never played with. And he had made a new friend on the field trip, albeit a girl.

Yet here he was, pushing the issue again. 

That afternoon, when Oliver picked Ollie up from school, he made an executive decision. He was in charge in the afternoons, after all. 

“Ollie, what do you say we go shopping?” he asked. 

Ollie looked into the rear-view mirror, trying to glimpse Oliver’s face. He wasn’t allowed to sit in the front seat yet, much to his irritation. Oliver looked at him in the rear-view mirror, too. He had to hide the smile he felt creeping onto his face when he saw the skeptical look on Ollie’s little face. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked. 

Ollie squinted one eye and twisted up that same side of his mouth, reminding Oliver slightly of Popeye. He clearly felt it was some sort of trap. Oliver turned his attention back to the road and waited. 

Finally, Ollie asked hesitantly, “What about my homework?” 

Oliver tried not to roll his eyes. He was above that childish gesture, he reminded himself. “Well, Ollie, how much homework do you have?” he asked. 

Ollie shrugged. “Normal,” he replied. 

“Normal? What does that mean?” Oliver did roll his eyes at that one. 

“The normal amount of homework,” Ollie said. He was speaking slowly and carefully, as if he were explaining some difficult concept to a three year old. 

“I wasn't planning on shopping in NYC, Ollie. I just thought you might want to stop by the store and buy something,” he explained. 

“Buy something why?” Ollie asked next. 

Oliver sighed and shook his head slightly. Ollie was almost as hard to sell on the idea as Elio had been. “Ollie, I thought we could go by the store to buy something. For no reason. Just for fun. If you’re interested, I’ll fill you in on the way,” it was his final offer. 

Ollie raised the pitch of his voice a half step, tilted his head, and said slowly, “I’m listening.” 

On the way to the store, Oliver explained to Ollie the purpose for the shopping trip, and he couldn’t help but smile when he saw the excitement on Ollie’s face. He was clearly all in! 

When they reached the store, Oliver checked his phone before exiting the car. Suddenly he noticed that Ollie was already out of the car and had taken a few steps toward the building. He jumped out of the car, heart racing. 

“Ollie!” he called, somewhat harshly, and was relieved that Ollie did stop then. Oliver reached him in a few quick strides and grabbed his hand. 

Ollie could see right away that he was not happy. He began to worry that he might not get to go into the store now. 

“You know the rules for parking lots. What were you thinking?” Oliver scolded. 

Ollie shrugged. “I don’t know,” he whined. 

“You had better know. You could have gotten hit by a car. You know how dangerous parking lots are,” Oliver was trying to catch his breath after having such a fright. 

“I didn’t know,” Ollie muttered, and Oliver could hear the shakiness in Ollie’s voice. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. 

Very calmly, he said, “Yes, you did know. Because I have told you. And Elio has told you. You stay with us in parking lots and stores, understand?” 

Ollie nodded sadly. “Sorry,” he mumbled. 

“Fine. But you’re holding my hand now,” Oliver wasn’t willing to let go of him just yet. 

Ollie smiled slyly. He didn’t consider this a punishment at all. He liked holding Oliver’s hand. He tried to conceal his delight, however. He was no fool. 

Oliver gave Ollie’s hand a little squeeze, and dreaded the day Ollie would no longer want to hold his hand. He was no fool, either. 

Once in the store, they smiled at each other. “You ready?” Oliver asked, a bit surprised by his own childlike excitement. 

Ollie’s answer came in the form of bright eyes and a wide, toothy grin punctuated with a subdued bounce. “Let’s go!” 

Oliver made Elio’s favorite foods for dinner that night. He let Ollie help, as he always did. Ollie loved to help with any and all tasks. As the time for Elio to arrive drew near, the two sneaks began to grow nervous. “Remember, Ollie, let me do the talking, okay?” 

“Check!” Ollie responded. 

“Don’t show him what you got until I say you can, okay?” Oliver reminded. 

Ollie sighed. “I _know_.” 

Oliver noticed the tone right away, and wasn’t a fan. He didn’t want to spoil the night, though, so he simply asked playfully, “Are you seven, or seventeen?” 

“Seven.” Ollie thought this was a strange question. The good news was that it was also quite an easy question, and he was confident in his answer. 

“Then act like it.” 

Ollie had no idea what that meant so he just responded with his usual, “Check!” He found that to work in nearly any situation.

Oliver patted him gently on the head. “That’s better,” he said. 

_Yessss,_ Ollie thought. ‘Check” never failed him. 

Just then, Ollie heard a most welcome sound. It was a car door shutting, and there was only one person it could be. 

His eyes grew wide, excitement all over his face. “ELIO!!” he yelled. But as he turned to run for the door, his forward motion was quickly halted by someone grasping his arm. It didn’t hurt, but he didn’t like it, either. He turned to see what Oliver wanted, a grumpy look layering itself over the excited one. Oliver thought it made the child look like a human optical illusion, but a cute one. 

“Remember what I said,” Oliver said.

Playing it cool just as Oliver had instructed, Ollie sauntered over toward the door. When Elio entered, he was so happy to see him that he forgot himself for a moment and dived in for a hug. Elio leaned down, arms full of books, keys, and the morning’s coffee mug, and kissed Ollie noisily on the cheek. Then he stood, where Oliver leaned down with a kiss of his own. Much less noisy and playful. They looked at one another for a moment, the look that even Ollie had learned to recognize, though he didn’t understand it fully. He understood well enough to joke, “Eww!” making everyone laugh. 

For some reason, Ollie forgot everything Oliver had told him, even though he’d been reminded again and again. 

“Guess what!?” he said excitedly. 

Oliver’s eyes grew large, and he shook his head at Ollie, a stern look on his face.

“What?” Elio said, setting down his things and then ruffling his little brother’s hair playfully. 

“Oliver took me to the store after school and we bought something cool just because!!” Ollie exclaimed. But then he saw a strange look come over Elio’s face. It almost looked like he was angry, but that wouldn’t make sense. 

Elio turned then and looked at Oliver. _Definitely angry,_ Ollie thought. 

“Oh he did?” Elio asked. 

Ollie didn’t answer. He suddenly wasn’t as excited about the shopping trip. 

“Kinda,” Ollie muttered. 

Oliver’s face was unreadable. “Well, Ollie didn’t follow the plan, but yes, we did. We went shopping and we bought something just for fun. Not for a birthday. Not for a celebration. Just because we wanted to,” he said unapologetically. 

Elio rolled his eyes. “So I guess my feelings are completely irrelevant?” 

Oliver shrugged, “Ollie, go show your brother what we bought.” 

Ollie nodded, but he wasn’t nearly as excited as he had been before. He took Elio’s hand and led him down the hallway. But, instead of leading Elio to his room, he instead moved toward the study. 

“In here,” Ollie said quietly. Once inside, he gestured toward the gift that was sitting on the floor, leaning against the desk. 

Elio stared at it, confused. 

“It’s the guitar you liked,” Ollie whispered. 

“Oh,” Elio said. He walked over and picked up the guitar, sat down, and strummed it. It sounded amazing. Ollie squeezed in beside him, but Oliver stood in the doorway, leaning casually against the jamb, a sly smile on his face. 

Elio looked up at him, then at Ollie. “What is the special occasion?”

“That’s the best part!!” Ollie explained. Elio was stunned, but he looked up to let Ollie know he was listening. “Sometimes you can give someone a gift just to do for no reason!!” 

Elio smiled then, playing guitar, his happiness apparent on his face. 

Ollie leaned against his brother, listening to him play. “Thank you, guys,” Elio softly said. Ollie beamed, clearly delighted to do something for Elio. 

“It feels good doesn’t it?” Oliver asked. Elio nodded. He knew where this was going. Ollie suddenly left the room, and Oliver squeezed into the spot beside Elio. “Occasionally, a gift for no reason reminds you that people care about you, love you, and know you well enough to know what you like,” Oliver clarified his point. 

Elio smirked. “Yeah, I understand. I have a present for you, too.” 

Oliver tilted his head quizzically, saying nothing. 

Elio nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give it to you later tonight. At midnight.” 

“Hmmm, you _do_ know what I like,” Oliver replied with a smile.


End file.
